An Iranian patrol boat trained a crew-served weapon on a Navy MH-60R Seahawk helicopter as a U.S. carrier strike group transited the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, two defense officials confirmed to USNI News. Read More →

U.S. Marines with Bravo Company, 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion and service members with the Mexican Navy take part in a mechanized assault exercise using assault amphibious vehicles to enhance their sea-to-land capabilities aboard San Clemente Island, California, July 30, 2016 during the Southern California portion of Rim of the Pacific 2016. US Marine Corps photo.

Speaking the day after Donald Trump won the presidential election, one of the nation’s leading security and foreign policy experts said, “I think Vladimir Putin had a great night.” Read More →

HSV Swift following an attack by what is believed to be a C-802 Chinese-built missile.

This is the second of two opinion pieces examining the Iran nuclear deal and the recent attacks in Yemen.

Recent events in the Middle East illustrate the continued expansion of Iranian influence, and the lifting of economic sanctions in January 2016 as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, the “Iran Nuclear deal”) will accelerate this strategic trend by reviving Iran’s economic health. The nuclear provisions of the JCPOA might work to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear weapons state in the next ten years; however, Iran has demonstrated with certainty that it will use the infusion of cash to further support proxy groups to achieve its interests in the region. Read More →

Anti-American graffiti on the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran in 2009. Photo by Phillip Maiwald

While Tehran is sticking to the “four corners of the deal” over its nuclear weapons program, neither Iran nor the United States is ready to go much beyond the agreement in normalizing relations, a panel of experts on the region agreed Wednesday. Read More →